Six years ago, ScrewAttack's "Death Battle" staged an all-out war between the two most diabolical scientific minds to span gaming, comics, and other mediums as Dr. Wily and Dr. Eggman led their armies into battle with one-another. The result (spoiler for a six-year old internet fanfic video) saw Metal Sonic go rogue and adopt his ultimate form of Metal Overlord, leaving both sides in ruins.

Alas, since that day, there has always been one question lingering in the minds of Death Battle fans, as there was an X factor missing from the fight. Or, if you'd rather, a Z factor.

Dr. Wily's ultimate creation, Zero, was conspicuous by his absence from the battlefield -- which made sense, seeing as Zero would not be activated until years after Wily's demise.

Well, Wily met his demise alright, and it's been years since, so it makes sense that now we finally get the war to settle the score: Metal Sonic vs. Zero.

The Death Battle doesn't take place until next week, but in the meantime, ScrewAttack has given us the (Not Safe For Work) tale of the tape for these two metallic warriors. First up was the surprise victor of the previous engagement, Metal Sonic:

Then, of course, we have DWN-∞, Zero:

Death Battles have a tendency to show its fighters at their absolute peak, which means Metal Sonic will likely resume his Metal Overlord form at some point... but that also means we may see Zero go Maverick with the full power of the virus that would ultimately doom the world as we know it, making both sides forces to be reckoned with.

Maybe there will be a winner, but in a battle of this scale, the world itself may very well lose.

In the meantime, the non-canon "Death Battle X" has featured a preliminary bout between the original Blue Bomber, Mega Man, and the Master of Blasting, Bomberman: